More art lovers came to Italy last year, according to a report out Friday.
Tourist arrivals in Italian art cities and culture sites in 2007 were expected to increase by 5% year-on-year when the final results are totted up.
According to the survey by marketing and consultancy firm Mercury, foreign tourist arrivals are seen 6% up and the Italian tourist arrivals up 4%.
Tourist overnights in the art cities and culture sites are forecast to increase by 4.7% with a 7.0% growth for foreign tourist overnights and a 2% rise for Italian tourist overnights.
Mercury conducted the survey jointly with the international research centre on economy and tourism CISET in Venice and Italian socio-economic research agency Censis Servizi.
Tourist overnights in bed & breakfast facilities and in flats will increase by over 5%, while the tourist overnights in hotels are forecast to go up 4.5%.
Among the art cities, Rome, Venice and Florence registered the best performance, while Naples was hit by the waste crisis.
